A shocking video claims to show the cruel method used to catch tuna that unnecessarily kills hundreds and thousands of sharks, dolphins, turtles and other species every year.

Australian consumers of tinned and fresh tuna have no way of knowing whether or not the tuna they eat is caught using this method, unless the tuna brand elects to state it on their label.

And Greenpeace has warned that the popular 'dolphin friendly' tag used by many tuna brands is 'meaningless' because it is not regulated.

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A Greenpeace video claims to show the harmful 'FAD method' of fishing tuna and its effect on other species

Hundreds and thousands of sharks, dolphins, turtles and other species are killed every year when they are unintentionally caught in nets after being attracted by fish aggregating devices (FADs)

In the video released by Greenpeace, fisheries from France, the UK and Italy are shown using fish aggregating devices (FADs) and nets to catch tuna in the Indian Ocean.

Marine animals including whale sharks, silky sharks, marlins, rays, oceanic whitetip sharks, olive ridley sea turtles, mako sharks and other mixed species of fish - some of which are threatened species - are seen caught up in the nets and cast aside by fisherman.

At the end of the video the dead marine animals are dumped back into the ocean.

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Greenpeace oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the purse seine nets pictured in the video – which are nets that circle around schools of fish before being drawn up like a purse – were not necessarily harmful when used on their own but were problematic when used with FADs.

'The fish aggregating devices are designed to attract tuna but they also attract all sorts of other marine life,' Mr Pelle told Daily Mail Australia.

'When you use those two methods in combination you end up catching large amounts of incidental species you don't mean to catch.'

A tuna fisherman on a boat in the Indian Ocean is pictured with a dead mariln

Australian fishing companies have not been linked to the video but Australian consumers may eat fish caught using this method without knowing because it does not need to be stated on the label of tuna cans

In the video released by Greenpeace, fisheries from France, the UK and Italy are shown using fish aggregating devices (FADs) and purse seine nets to catch tuna in the Indian Ocean

Australian consumers have no way of knowing where their canned tuna comes from because food labelling laws in Australia only require that canned tuna companies state where the fish is packed (usually Thailand) and not where it is caught.

Greenpeace says 90 percent of tuna caught in the Indian Ocean is caught using FADs.

Most tuna caught in the western Pacific Ocean is caught using the less harmful 'pole and line' method or using purse seine nets without FADs.

HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR TUNA IS SUSTAINABLY FISHED

If the can says the tuna is fished using the 'pole and line method' it has little impact on other species

If the can says it is from the Pacific Ocean it is probably fished without using harmful FADs, but it is difficult to be certain

If the can says it is from the Indian Ocean is most likely fished using harmful FADs

The label 'dolphin friendly' is almost meaningless because it's not regulated and dolphins don't tend to swim with tuna

The majority of tinned tuna states it is packed in Thailand but it could have come from the Indian or Pacific Oceans - Australian labelling laws no not require companies to disclose

Restaurants are not required to disclose where the tuna they serve was caught

Around 800,000 tonnes of tuna are caught in the Indian Ocean, where the video was taken, each year. Around 2.6 million tonnes are caught in the western Pacific Ocean.

'Most tuna in the Pacific is caught using purse seine nets, which is a fairly clean way of fishing because giant schools of tuna tend to swim on their own,' Mr Pelle said.

'They don't tend to catch as many sharks, turtles or other species as you would using this device.'

Mr Pelle said every major Australian canned tuna brand has committed to removing fish aggregation devices from their supply chains by the end of next year, but the organisation is still calling for clearer labelling laws.

'We've been asking for all seafood in Australia to be labelled where it's caught, not where it's put in a tin,' Mr Pelle said.

'So Australian consumers can make an informed choice about whether they want to buy tuna that results in killing hundreds of thousands of sharks, dolphins, whales and turtles.'